An Introduction to Human Resource Management, 3rd Edition

Quizzes

Self-test Questions

1. What are the characteristics of ‘core’ employees according to Atkinson’s concept of the ‘flexible firm’?
2. Call centres currently employ how many workers? 70,000, 150,000 or 300,000?
3. What was the initiative called ‘Fit for Life’ launched by Pepsi?
4. Give three examples of ‘family-friendly’ flexibility.
5. List three advantages and three disadvantages of employing part-time employees.
6. What is outsourcing?
7. What is a ‘portfolio’ worker?
8. Under the Herts County Council system of teleworking and hot-desking, what is an oasis?
9. In the Manpower case, what were the main objectives for Xerox?
10. What is the difference between horizontal and vertical flexibility from an occupational viewpoint?

Answers

1. They tend to be full-time, permanent career employees who carry out activities that are essential to the longer-term success of the organisation.

2. 300,000.

3. Detailed in case study 7.5.

4. Select three from:

• Flexible working hours
• Career breaks
• Flexitime
• Childcare provision

5. Select three from each:

Advantages:

• Easier to recruit
• Makes covering absent employees easier
• Extra payments usually do not incur overtime costs
• Part-timers can switch fully trained to full-time positions over time

Disadvantages:

• Double amount of training
• Double amount of appraisal
• Difficult to fill gaps in afternoons
• May be less acceptable to managers, especially if offices left half-empty

6. Paying a third party to run specific operations that were previously run directly by the organisation.

7. An employee who has more than one job and who can move rapidly between jobs as opportunities present themselves.

8. An office facility where mobile workers can drop in to use computers, email, telephones, etc. rather than having to go into their own dedicated office or go home.

9. To reduce the company’s operational costs while maintaining a high level of customer service.

10. Horizontal flexibility deals with employees extending their skills and knowledge at or around their own level, such as multi-skilling or skilling to encourage interchangeability. Vertical flexibility deals with employees taking on greater authority for work that may previously have been at a higher level (called empowerment) or at a lower level (like cleaning up their own area, carrying out their own administration).

Annotated Links

A government publication in 2010 came from the Family Friendly Working Hours Taskforce (2010) Flexible Working: Working for Families, Working for Business. London: The Taskforce. Available at: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/policy-publications/family-friendly-task-force.shtml

The Health and Safety Executive (2006) have a guide on homeworking, which is available at http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg226.pdf

See CIPD podcast 75 at http://www.cipd.co.uk/podcasts/_articles/_flexible-working.htm?WBCMODE=PresentationUnpublished

Annotated Further Reading Guide

Clutterbuck, D. (2003) Managing the Work–Life Balance. CIPD.

Cranfield School of Management carried out a research project in 2008 – Flexible Working and Performance. London: Working Families. 

Equality and Human Rights Commission (2009) Working Better – A Manager’s Guide to Flexible Working.

Hegewisch, A. (2009) Flexible Working Policies – A Co-operative View. Report 16. Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Kelliher, C. and Anderson, D. (2010) Doing More with Less. Flexible Working Practice and the Intensification of Work. Human Relations, January, 63(1): 83–106.

Sardeshmukh, S., Sharma, D. and Golden, T. (2012) Impact of Telework on Exhaustion and Job Engagement. New Technology, Work and Employment, November, 27(3): 193–207.

More evidence on the physical and psychological effects of teleworking.

Stredwick, J. and Ellis, S. (2005) Flexible Working, 2nd ed. CIPD.

Visser, F. and Williams, L. (2006) Work–Life Balance – Rhetoric v Reality. Work Foundation.

Extra Case Studies

Case 1

Part-time working for senior executives

According to Time-Wise consultants, there are 650,000 people in the UK working part-time, earning more than £40,000 with 90 per cent of a sample survey reporting that they meet their targets and feel successful in their role. These include:

Name	Company	Reason for working part-time	Additional comments
Harriet Lamb	CEO Fairtrade International	Birth of son in 1997	Worked 2.5 days at first and currently works 4.5 days. Has been successful in increasing sales of Fairtrade products from £30 million in 2002 to £1.32 billion in 2012.
Anna Skogland	MD investment banking at Goldman Sachs	Returned from maternity leave in 2013	Works 4 days a week, first person at her level to work part-time. Client-facing banking requiring responsiveness and availability. Takes calls and emails on day out, works weekends, evenings when required.
Lea Paterson	Head of Inflation Report, Bank of England	3 children	Works full-time up to date of publication then reverts to 3.5 days. She is one of the most senior monetary policy officials and first holder of her job to work part-time.
Abbie Rumbold	Partner, Bates, Wells and Braithwaite, Solicitors	2 children, long commute, pressurised job	Followed precedent set by existing employee. Finds it hard work but likes working part-time.
Helen Michels	Innovation director for Diageo	Returned from maternity leave in 2006	Works 3 days a week. Her part-time working is not widely broadcast. Working time is optimised for her work–life balance. Feels her career progression has been slowed.

Source: De Vita, E. (2012) I’m in Charge and I’m a Part-timer. People Management, December, 34–37.